Businessman who defrauded firms and stole tractors worth £630,000 jailed for five years

A man who defrauded businesses out of hundreds of thousands of pounds and stole agricultural machinery from Scottish firms has been jailed.

Barry Mackland, 50, caused businesses based in the north east to sustain losses of £630,000 throughout 2022.

In July, the High Court in Edinburgh heard how Mackland, of Aberdeen, stole tractors from a company and sold them to a third party, pocketing the cash.

He also pretended to other businesses that the cheques he presented to them would be honoured if they were handed over at a bank.

However, these companies lost out as there were insufficient funds in Mackland’s account to make the payments, but he would still obtain machinery worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Mackland was found guilty by a jury of defrauding three agricultural firms in a swindle worth £630,000 by obtaining money through false pretences.

The offending took place between March 2022 and June 2022 and involved two firms in Forfar, one in Stonehaven and a fourth in Lincolnshire.

Evidence revealed how he persuaded the Scottish dealers to supply him with vehicles to the value of £500,000, knowing the cheques he used as payment would bounce.

Payment was never made, and the vehicles were not returned.

He also pretended to the company in Lincolnshire that he would supply them with a JCB for £52,200 and then failed to supply the vehicle or return the money.

In total, the overall value of his fraudulent activity was put at £630,000.

On Thursday, Mackland was sentenced to five years in prison at the High Court in Glasgow.

He will also be subject to confiscation action under Proceeds of Crime laws to recover funds illegally obtained.

Mackland’s lawyer David Moggach told the court: “He still maintains the position that he had at trial.”

The KC stated the financial situation at the time for Mackland had “got worse” and that he had “struggled to keep his head above water”.

Lord Harrower said Mackland’s own business had involved sourcing and supplying plant equipment in the UK and what he described as “Europe-wide”.

Sentencing, the judge added: “You were not a con-man, who tricks an unsuspecting stranger out of his money and is never seen again.

“Most of your customers had dealt with you over many years.

“These dealings were based almost entirely on trust. For many years, your business appeared to flourish.

“However, when things started to go wrong, as they did in the spring of 2022, your wheeling and dealing exposed your customers to unacceptable levels of risk.

“You fraudulently exploited your customers’ goodwill in an increasingly desperate attempt to keep your business going.”

Moira Orr, who leads on major crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “Fraud is not a victimless crime. It strikes at and erodes the basis of trust upon which all businesses rightly depend. We take such criminality very seriously.

“Businesses and individuals suffered considerable financial harm as a consequence of Barry Mackland’s crimes.

“But thanks to partnership working between Police Scotland and the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service, he has been brought to account for his crimes.

“As prosecutors, we are wholly committed to tackling financial crime of this kind.”